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I 


MEMORIALS  OF  COLUMB1 


READ    TO    THK 


Jttarnlano  historical  Borietn, 


ROBERT      DODGE, 


3   April,    1851. 


BALTIMORE: 

PRINTED    FOR    TIIK     S  TV. 

M  D  C  C  C  L  I . 


EJIB- 


.    -'V 


< 


MEMOEIALS  OF  COLUMBUS, 


READ    TO    THE 


f)i0toncal 


ROBERT   jDODGE, 


3   April,    1851. 


BALTIMORE: 
PRINTED    FOR    THE    SOCIETY. 

M  D  C  C  C  L  I . 


ENTERED,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1851,  by  the 

MARYLAND     HISTORICAL     SOCIETY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States. 


JOHN    D.     TOY,    PRINTER. 


COLUMBUS. 


AUTOGRAPH  LETTERS  AT  GENOA. 


Ax  the  meeting  of  the  NEW  YORK  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 
held  at  its  rooms,  on  the  evening  of  the  fifteenth  day  of  January, 
1850,  I  had  the  honor  of  presenting  to  the  Society  a  copy  of 
one  of  the  very  few  remaining  autograph  letters  of  Christopher 
Columbus,  in  the  original  and  beautiful  Italian. 

Upon  the  nineteenth  day  of  January,  1848,  during  my  stay  at 
Genoa,  I  had  the  opportunity  of  examining  that  city's  proudest 
treasury, — its  Custodia  of  the  Memorials  of  Columbus,  which 
with  Parmegiano's  Portrait  in  the  Royal  Gallery  at  Naples, 
compose  some  valuable  relics  of  him,  the  results  of  whose 
sublime  achievement  may  well  fill  coming  centuries  for  their 
development. 

During  the  brief  space  that  the  Custodien  allowed  me  to  hold 
the  letter  in  my  hand,  I  succeeded  in  making  a  correct  copy  of 
the  original,  which,  as  one  of  but  three  landmarks  of  his  history 
supplied  by  himself,  and  left  for  us,  is  justly  regarded  by  his 
countrymen  with  no  ordinary  veneration.  Perhaps  their  famous 
Emerald  Vase  or  the  ashes  of  St.  John,  do  not  meet  with  equal 
regard. 

I  presented  the  copy  that  I  thus  had  myself  made,  to  the 
Society,  without  any  accompanying  data,  which  might  be  useful 
to  demonstrate  the  originality  and  authenticity  of  the  donation, 
as  well  as  its  historical  importance. 


511683 

LIB  SETS 


Favorable  opportunity  has  since,  through  the  courtesy  of  Mr. 
Brantz  Mayer,  of  Baltimore,  and  from  other  sources,  placed  in 
my  hands  some  evidence  thereof,  which  I  now  ask  permission 
succinctly  to  detail. 

It  may  perhaps,  be  as  well  here  to  premise  a  short  history  of 
the  collection  and  preservation  of  the  few  autograph  Memorials 
of  the  Great  Discoverer  of  the  New  World. 

Of  the  Autograph  Letters  of  Christopher  Columbus,  there  are 
but  three  as  yet  known  to  the  world;  the  residue,  though  long 
desired,  have  never  yet  been  brought  to  light. 

The  priceless  value  of  an  autograph  letter  from  the  accom- 
plished mind  of  Him,  who  was  confessedly  at  the  head  of  phy- 
sical science,  at  that  period  of  the  awakening  of  the  human  in- 
tellect; which  speaks  to  us,  at  the  vast  distance  of  near  three 
centuries  and  a  half,  of  his  daily  griefs,  hopes,  and  plans  of 
beneficence;  in  that  most  mellifluent  of  human  tongues,  the 
daily  speech  of  his  cotemporaries,  Michael  Angelo,  Titian, 
Corregio  and  Raphael,  and  whose  harmonies  were  even  as 
Columbus  wrote,  flowing  in  immortal  grace  from  the  pens  of 
Ariosto  and  Machiavelli,  must  be  manifest  to  all,  and  more 
especially  in  this  land — the  scene  of  his  glory,  now  so  rapidly 
hasting  foward  in  that  grand  career,  predicted  in  the  sublime 
visions  of  his  own  prophecies. 

We  are  told  by  the  Decurions  of  Genoa,  that  the  library  of 
the  Count  Michael  Angelo  Cambiasi,  a  former  Senator  of  that 
city,  was,  after  his  death,  in  July,  1816,  advertised  for  sale. 
Its  catalogue  contained  as  one  of  its  Nos.  the  "Codice  dei 
Privilegii  del  Colombo."  The  Decurions  of  Genoa,  anxious  to 
procure  this  treasure,  had  the  public  sale  adjourned  until  the 
King's  answer  had  been  received  to  their  memorial  on  the 
subject.  The  King  of  Sardinia,  Victor  Emanuel,  earnestly 
seconded  their  wishes,  ordering  the  originals  to  be  deposited  in 
the  archives  of  the  Court  at  Turin ;  where  an  accurate  copy 
having  been  taken,  at  the  solicitations  of  the  Decurions  of 
Genoa,  the  originals  were  given  up  to  them  and  the  copy  left  at 
Turin.  The  originals  were  received  by  Genoa,,  on  the  29th 
day  of  January,  1821,  and  shortly  after  a  beautiful  monument  or 


custodia,  being  a  marble  pillar  surmounted  by  a  bust  of  Colum- 
bus, was  erected  as  their  honored  depository,  and  placed  in  an 
apartment  in  the  beautiful  marble  palace  of  the  Doges  of  Genoa. 

A  small  door  of  gilded  bronze  in  the  centre,  opens  to  still 
another  door  of  similar  material,  behind  which,  in  their  golden 
receptacle  are  preserved  these  sacred  relics.  The  closet  is 
secured  by  two  keys,  which  are  kept  respectively  as  appurte- 
nances of  office,  by  the  Senator  and  by  the  Cardinal  Legate  of 
Genoa,  during  their  terms  of  office.  To  see  the  relics,  both 
keys  must  be  obtained  on  written  application  to  these  digni- 
taries. 

The  reflecting  stranger  who  has  the  happiness  of  visiting 
"Geneva  la  Superba,"  as  she  is  so  well  designated,  and  looks 
with  admiration  on  that  beautiful  palace,  the  seat  of  the  pomps 
of  its  long  line  of  illustrious  Doges,  still  so  fresh  and  well  pre- 
served, despite  French  Vandalism;  may  now,  as  he  walks 
through  its  classic  corridors,  colonnades  and  porticos,  well 
hesitate  to  attribute  the  inspiration  of  the  scene,  to  the  thronging 
memories  of  the  great  Doria,  the  deliverer  of  his  country,  the 
Crusades,  the  capture  of  Constantinople,  the  rescue  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  or  to  these  memorials  of  Genoa's  greater  Son,  who 
made  her  the  mother  of  a  New  World. 

The  documents  contained  in  this  monument  to  Columbus, 
consist  of  forty-four  separate  charters,  warrants,  orders  and 
grants  of  privileges,  beautifully  engrossed  on  vellum,  by  the  art 
of  the  copyist  and  illuminator  of  that  age,  and  also  the  autograph 
letters  of  Columbus,  of  which  we  purpose  to  speak. 

These  documents  are  enclosed  in  a  bag  of  richly  gilt  and 
embossed  scarlet  Spanish  leather,  with  a  silver  lock;  being  the 
"book  of  copies  of  his  letters  and  of  his  pririleges"  which  in 
1502,  when  he  set  off  upon  his  fourth  and  last  voyage,  he  en- 
trusted to  the  care  and  guardianship  of  Signer  Francesco  di 
Rivarolo,  to  forward  to  his  intimate  friend  at  Genoa,  "the  most 
learned  doctor,"  as  he  styles  him,  and  "the  ambassador"  Signer 
Nicolo  Oderigo,  for  his  safe  keeping  and  preservation. 

In  the  TWO  autograph  letters,  which  are  all  that  were  pub- 
lished accompanying  the  copy  of  these  documents  of  Columbus, 


6 

printed  by  order  of  the  Decurions  of  Genoa,  in  1823;  (entitled 
"Codice  Diplomatico  Colombo- Americano,")  Columbus  ad- 
dresses both  letters  to  Signor  Nicolo  Oderigo,  the  first  dated 
March  21st,  1502,  just  before  he  sailed  upon  his  fourth  and  last 
voyage  of  discovery ;  and  the  second,  dated  the  27th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1504,  two  months  after  his  return;  as  will  appear  by  the 
copies  of  these  letters  annexed. 

In  the  first  of  these  letters,  bearing  date  Seville,  March 
21,  1502,  he  says:  "I  gave  the  book  of  my  Privileges  to 
Signor  Francesco  di  Rivarolo,  in  order  that  he  might  forward 
it  to  you,  along  with  a  copy  of  the  missive  letters.  I  beg  of 
you  as  a  particular  favor  to  write  to  Don  Diego,  to  acknowledge 
their  receipt  and  to  mention  where  they  are  deposited." 

In  the  second  of  these  letters,  bearing  date  Seville,  Decem- 
ber 27,  1504,  he  says:  "At  that  time,  when  I  set  off  upon  the 
voyage  from  which  I  have  just  returned,  I  gave  to  Francesco 
di  Rivarolo,  a  book  of  copies  of  my  Letters,  and  another  of 
my  Privileges,  in  a  bag  of  colored  Spanish  leather,  with  a 
silver  lock;  and  two  letters  for  the  Bank  of  St.  George,  to 
which  I  assigned  the  tenth  of  my  revenues,  in  diminution  of 
the  duties  upon  corn  and  other  provisions :  no  acknowledgment 
of  all  this  has  reached  me.  Signor  Francesco  tells  me,  that  all 
arrived  there  in  safety.  If  so,  it  was  uncourteous  in  these  gen- 
tlemen of  St.  George  not  to  have  favored  me  with  an  answer, 
nor  have  they  thereby  improved  their  affairs,  which  gives  me 
cause  to  say,  that  whoever  serves  the  public,  serves  nobody." 

The  magistrate  of  St.  George,  at  Genoa,  on  the  8th  day  of 
December,  1502,  writes  him  at  great  length,  acknowledging 
the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  him,  in  which  he  gives  orders  to  his 
son,  Don  Diego,  that  the  tenth  part  of  his  annual  revenues 
should  be  paid  to  the  city  of  Genoa,  in  diminution  of  the 
duties  on  corn,  wine  and  other  provisions,  for  which  they  ren- 
der suitable  acknowledgments  to  the  Admiral,  replying  in  detail 
to  his  said  letter. 

This  letter  of  the  magistrate  of  St.  George,  of  Genoa,  of 
which  we  append  a  translation,  therefore  could  not  have  been 
received  by  the  Admiral. 


These  three  letters  form  all  the  letters  that  are  printed  by  the 
Decurions  of  Genoa,  in  their  publication  of  1823,  of  auto- 
graphs 6y,  or  addressed  to  the  Admiral. 

The  manifest  hiatus  of  meaning  in  this  correspondence, 
can  only  be  explained  by  the  production  of  that  letter  from 
Columbus  to  the  magistrates  or  Bank  of  St.  George,  mentioned 
by  himself  in  the  second  letter,  and  acknowledged  on  receipt, 
and  answered  at  length  by  the  letter  of  the  magistrate  of 
St.  George. 

It  may  be  as  well  here  to  observe,  that  on  examination  of  the 
printed  volume  of  the  Decurions  of  Genoa,  it  appears  from  the 
detailed  history  of  the  documents  furnished  on  page  138,  et  seq. 
that  they  print  only  the  contents  of  the  book  of  Privileges,  and 
book  of  copies  of  Letters,  and  such  autograph  letters  as  are 
found  therein,  and  attached  to  the  leather  case  of  the  book,  and 
no  others. 

The  letter  of  Columbus,  of  which  I  had  the  honor  of  pre- 
senting a  copy  to  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  in  Italian, 
copied  from  the  autograph,  was  by  the  Custodien,  taken  out  of 
the  same  depository,  but  was  not  attached  to  the  book  of 
Privileges. 

This  letter  bears  date  the  2d  day  of  April,  1502,  at  Seville; 
addressed  to  the  Governors  of  the  Bank  of  St.  George,  at 
Genoa;  gives  directions  to  Don  Diego  to  pay  the  one  tithe  of 
his  revenue  to  the  Bank,  in  diminution  of  the  taxes;  informs 
them  of  his  having  sent  to  Signor  Nicolo  Oderigo  a  copy  of 
his  Privileges  and  Charters;  and  is  thus,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
copy  appended,  the  missing  ktter,  referred  to  by  Columbus  him- 
self in  his  second  letter,  and  fully  acknowledged  and  answered 
in  detail  by  the  magistrate  of  St.  George,  on  the  8th  day  of 
December  following. 

Condensing  a  few  leading  events  of  the  life  of  the  great 
navigator,  may  throw  more  light  upon  this  intrinsically  inter- 
esting letter. 

Biographers  have  not  as  yet  determined  whether  it  was  in 
1446  or  1447,  or  earlier,  that  Columbus  was  born.  Their 
theories  are  indeed  numerous.  Dr.  Robertson,  in  note  11  to 


8 

page  62  of  Vol.  I.  of  his  History  of  America,  says:  "The 
time  of  Columbus'  birth  may  be  nearly  ascertained  by  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances.  It  appears  from  the  fragment  of  a  letter 
addressed  by  him  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  A.  D.  1501,  that 
he  had  at  that  time  been  engaged  forty  years  in  a  seafaring 
life.  In  another  letter  he  informs  them  that  he  went  to  sea  at 
the  age  of  fourteen :  whence  it  follows  that  he  was  born  April, 
A.  D.  1447,"— and  cites  Ferdinand's  Life  C.  Col.  Mr.  Pres- 
cott,  although  not  venturing  in  his  text  positively  to  state  it, 
in  his  History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  Vol.  II.  page  115, 
note  6,  and  Vol.  III.  page  242,  note  16,  sums  up  all  the 
authorities,  and  comes  to  the  same  result.  It  seems  that 
Mr.  Irving's  date  of  1435,  based  on  the  hypotheses  of  Navarrete 
and  Bernaldez  is  conjectural,  and  opposed  to  the  great  weight 
of  authorities.  The  last  writer  appears  unwilling  to  allow  that 
the  infirmities  of  the  declining  years  of  the  Admiral  were  not 
the  natural  result  of  his  numerous  mental  and  bodily  hard- 
ships, and  therefore  adds  ten  years  to  his  life.  Spotorno  and 
others  say  1446:  the  rest  1447.  However,  after  much  contro- 
versy, it  seems  agreed  that  he  was  the  son  of  the  wool-carder, 
Domenico  Colombo,  and  his  wife,  Susanna,  and  that  the  place 
of  his  nativity  was  in  the  present  street  of  St.  Andrew's  Gate, 
or  Lane  of  Mulcento,  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Stephen,  being  the 
suburbs  of  Genoa. 

From  the  age  of  fourteen  until  the  age  of  sixty,  or  1506, 
when  he  died  at  Valladolid,  his  habitual  pursuit  was  navigation. 
The  facts  and  speculations  of  all  the  existing  science  of  the 
age  were  applied  by  him,  in  the  study  and  practice  of  his 
favorite  occupation. 

These  memorials  of  him,  and  the  still  lingering  historic  remi- 
niscence of  his  age,  establish  his  character,  to  have  been  im- 
measurably superior  to  his  fellow  men :  that  his  mind,  enriched 
by  a  long  experience  in  navigating  the  seas  of  Europe,  and  by 
the  contemplation  of  the  phenomena  of  nature,  and  the  laws  of 
the  physical  world,  had  risen  to  an  unalterable  conviction  of  the 
truth  of  that  ever  memorable  and  grand  conclusion,  from  those 


laws  and  phenomena,  which  shone  upon  his  own  mind  with  the 
clearness  and  directness  of  a  sunbeam. 

How  he,  of  whom  his  own  age  was  not  worthy,  toiled  and 
wandered  :  how  much  privation  and  suffering,  how  many  griefs 
and  sorrows  he  endured  ;  how  many  long  years  he  begged  his 
way  from  door  to  door,  and  from  court  to  court ;  how  his  clear 
reasoning  was  derided ;  and  how  often  baffled  in  the  effort  to 
gain  a  hearing  among  the  ignorant  and  selfish  sovereigns  of  Eu- 
rope ;  how  his  great  heart  and  hope  outlived  this  all ;  and  how 
at  last,  the  gracious  queen  of  Castile,  lifted  him  up  from  the  dust 
of  his  abasement,  and  staking  the  jewels  of  her  crown,  set  him 
forth  upon  that  voyage,  which  at  once  opened  the  area  of  a 
world,  and  covered  him  and  her  with  a  more  resplendent  glory 
than  all  human  diadems  ; — is  familiar  to  us  all. 

The  great  navigator,  made  in  all,  four  voyages  to  this  Conti- 
nent, or,  as  it  was  then  called,  the  Indies. 

His  first  voyage  began  on  the  3d*  day  of  August,  1492,  from 
Palos;  and  he  returned  to  Lisbon,  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1493. 

His  second  voyage  started  from  Cadiz,  the  25th  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1493  ;  and  he  returned  to  Burgos,  in  Spain,  on  the  14th 
of  June,  1497. 

On  his  third  voyage,  he  sailed  from  San  Lucar,  on  the  30th 
day  of  May,  1498;  the  reins  of  power  in  Hispaniola,  were  then 
in  the  hands  of  his  vindictive  enemies  ;  and  the  student  of  the 
life  of  this  really  sublime  hero  and  prophet  of  his  age,  reads  with 
weeping  heart,  how  he  was  reviled,  persecuted,  disgraced,  and 
sent  home  a  prisoner  to  Cadiz,  in  Spain,  where  he  arrived  a 
captive  in' chains,  on  the  20th  day  of  November,  1500. 

Two  long  and  weary  years,  were  then  spent  by  him  in  repel- 
ing  the  malicious  falsehoods  of  his  jealous  foes,  before  the  tribu- 
nals and  court  of  Spain,  which  had  but  two  years  before  show- 
ered upon  the  discoverer  dominion  and  honors  equal  to  royalty. 
The  truth,  finally,  as  ever,  when  facing  falsehood,  triumphed. 
The  royal  favor  was  restored,  and  on  the  9th  day  of  May,  1502, 

*  All  these  dates  being  prior  to  A.  D.  1582,  the  epoch  of  the  Gregorian  Calen- 
dar, or  change  to  the  New  Style,  eleven  days  are  therefore  to  be  added  to  bring 
them  to  the  modern  reckoning,  the  present  or  New  Style. 
2 


10 

with  a  still  greater  equipment,  and  still  greater  glory,  though 
his  conscious  satisfaction  of  victory  over  his  enemies  was  sad- 
dened by  his  experience  of  their  malice,  he  set  forth  on  his 
fourth  voyage  to  the  Indies  from  the  same  port  of  Cadiz. 

He  returned  home  to  San  Lucar,  in  the  month  of  September, 
1504;  the  precise  day  of  his  arrival  is  not  ascertained. 

This  fourth  voyage  was  an  addition  to  his  glory  ;  as  he  there- 
in first  saw  the  main  land  of  this  Continent  in  voyaging  along 
the  South  American  coasts.  This  was  his  last  voyage.  The 
great  Mariner  returned  no  more.  In  less  than  two  years  after- 
wards, and  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  1506,  at  Valladolid,  his 
mighty  heart  surrendered  to  "the  last  enemy,  which  is  death." 

In  a  codicil  to  his  will,  which  codicil  was  written  by  the  tes- 
tator himself  at  Segovia,  August  15,  1505,  and  executed  at 
Valladolid,  the  19th  day  of  May,  1506,  (the  day  before  his 
death,)  Columbus  declares  that  his  will  had  been  made  and  ex- 
ecuted on  the  1st  day  of  April,  1502,  and  deposited  in  the  keep- 
ing of  father  Caspar  Certosa,  at  Seville.  Another  codicil,  called 
the  military  codicil,  written  on  the  blank  leaf  of  the  Breviary, 
presented  to  him  by  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  dated  at  Valladolid, 
the  14th  day  of  May,  1506,  has  also  been  published.  This  will 
itself  has  never  yet  seen  the  light ;  but  a  previous  will,  dated  in 
1498,  has  been,  of  late  years,  discovered  and  published. 

Perhaps  this  may  be  charged  to  the  wilfulness  of  that  crowd 
of  selfish  claimants,  who  started  so  many  wild  and  dubious  sto- 
ries, and  unfounded  litigations  for  the  succession  to  his  wealth 
and  honors,  and  prosecuted  their  finally  unsuccessful  suits  for 
generations  after  his  decease.  In  this  will,  he  declares  Genoa 
to  be  his  birth-place,  and  directs  his  son  Don  Diego,  therefore 
to  honor  and  be  serviceable  to  that  city.  The  controversy  was 
created  by  a  race  of  claimants  from  Cuccharo  or  Cogoletto,  who 
attempted  to  deprive  Genoa  of  the  honor  of  his  birth-place,  to  fix 
it  at  Cuccharo,  and  thereby  to  make  out  their  own  lineal  descent 
and  title  to  the  succession,  to  the  honor  and  wealth  of  the  great 
Admiral  of  Genoa.  The  explicit  declarations  of  his  will,  that 
he  was  a  native  of  Genoa,  stood  in  their  way ;  and  it  is  easy  to 
believe  that  to  protract  their  pertinacious  litigation,  they  found 
it  convenient  to  suppress  the  will. 


11 

This  epitome  of  the  leading  events  of  his  life  points  clearly  to 
the  character  of  this  letter  of  the  2d  day  of  April,  1502.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  month  of  April,  1502,  was  selected  by  the  Admi- 
ral for  making  the  final  disposition  of  his  earthly  affairs.  On 
the  1st  day  of  the  month,  at  Seville,  in  Spain,  where  he  was 
occupied  in  the  business  of  his  last  expedition,  he  executes  his 
will,  the  most  solemn  record  of  humanity,  and  therein  speaks 
with  affection  of  his  own  distant  and  native  Genoa.  During  the 
month  of  March,  he  had  given  diligence  to  have  all  the  chapters, 
warrants  and  grants,  from  the  crown  and  others  to  him,  accu- 
rately copied,  authenticated  by  a  public  notary,  and  sent  by  the 
trusty  hand  of  intimate  friendship,  to  his  son,  Don  Diego,  at  Ge- 
noa, there  to  be  carefully  deposited  and  preserved.  After  thus 
honoring  his  native  city,  by  its  selection  as  the  depository  of  his 
most  valuable  muniments  of  title,  he  seeks  to  confer  a  more  sub- 
stantial favor  upon  his  fellow-citizens.  To  diminish  the  burthen 
of  the  taxes  upon  food,  which  bore  heavily  on  the  poor,  he,  by 
this  letter,  voluntarily  yields  up  to  the  city  one  tenth  of  all  the 
revenues  he  derived  from  this  source  ;  and  entrusts  his  son,  Don 
Diego,  with  the  honorable  office  of  executing  his  plan  of  benefi- 
cence. The  letter  is  therefore  testamentary  in  its  character;  and 
was  more  efficient  than  if  he  had  included  it  in  his  will,  which 
became  the  prey  of  the  avarice  of  litigants. 

It  is  addressed,  like  the  others,  to  Signor  Nicolo  Oderigo,  his 
intimate  friend ;  an  accomplished  fellow- citizen  of  Genoa,  who 
wTas  one  of  its  Senators,  and  had  been  honored  by  its  embassy 
to  the  Court  of  Spain,  then  the  first  power  of  the  world. 

Mr.  Irving,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  History  of  Columbus, 
alludes  generally  to  this  subject;  states  the  fact  that  Columbus 
sent  two  letters  to  the  Bank  of  St.  George,  assigning  to  it  the 
one-tenth  of  his  revenues,  to  be  employed  in  diminishing  the 
duties  on  corn  and  other  provisions,  but  does  not  furnish  any 
copies  of  the  autograph  letters  of  the  Admiral  or  the  Bank,  nor 
any  additional  information.*  A  very  material  confirmation  has 
however,  been  furnished  me. 

*  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Irving,  that  he  has  not  visited  Genoa,  since  the  dis- 
covery of  these  relics  of  Columbus,  and  therefore  has  had  no  opportunity  of  per- 
sonal inspection. 


12 

In  Niles's  National  Register  for  June  15th,  1839,  it  is  stated, 
on  the  authority  of  the  New  York  Gazette,  that  Captain  Baker, 
of  the  Baltimore  Brig  Helen  McLeod,  recently  arrived  from 
Genoa,  had  furnished  to  the  Editor  of  the  Gazette  a  translation 
of  an  autograph  letter  from  the  great  discoverer  of  our  Conti- 
nent, which  translation  had  been  given  to  Captain  Baker  by 
Mr.  Robert  Campbell,  who  at  that  period  was  United  States 
Consul  at  Genoa.  This  letter  is  dated  2d  April,  1502, 
addressed  to  the  Bank  of  St.  George,  at  Genoa.  The  Editor 
remarks  that  it  will  be  perused  with  interest  as  an  original 
from  Christopher  Columbus,  never  before  published,  and  appends 
(without,  however,  giving  the  Italian)  a  very  fair  rendering 
into  English  of  the  identical  letter,  which  I  have  translated  and 
inserted  as  No.  4  in  the  Appendix  to  this  paper.  As  evidence 
from  an  independent  source  and  high  character,  this  additional 
testimony  of  the  authenticity  of  the  autograph  is  entitled  to 
great  weight  and  respect.* 

The  letters  speak  for  themselves,  their  contents  require  no 
commentary;  and  least  of  all,  can  the  gap  of  meaning  between 
the  letters  printed  by  the  Decurions  of  Genoa,  be  supplied  by 
the  cool  assertion  of  D.  Giovanni  Batista  Spotorno,  in  his 
Memoir  of  Columbus,  that  the  letter  of  the  magistrate  of  St. 
George  refers,  and  is  an  answer  to  the  first  letter  of  Columbus, 
bearing  date  at  Seville,  March  21st,  1502,  which  is  addressed 
to  Nicolo  Oderigo,  upon  a  subject  entirely  distinct. 

It  may  be  pertinent  to  add  that  the  Bank  of  St.  George  at 
Genoa,  whose  banking  house,  girt  with  the  Pisan  chains,  the 
trophy  of  Genoa's  ancient  fame,  is  still  a  conspicuous  monument 
at  the  side  of  the  Porto  franco,  arose  about  A.  D.  1400,  as  a 
means  of  providing  the  Republic  with  funds  to  repel  the  aggres- 
sions of  the  exiled  nobles,  who  then  in  great  force  threatened 
its  destruction. 

The  Republic  pledged  the  whole  revenues  of  the  state,  to  a 
company  of  merchants,  called  the  Compera  or  Banco  di  San 

*  Mr.  Robert  Campbell  was  in  office  as  United  States  Consul  at  Genoa,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1839.  See  U.  S.  Official  Register  for  1839,  p.  11. 


13 

Georgio,  for  the  payment  of  the  advances  of  money  required  by 
the  exigencies  of  the  State.  The  bank  was  for  loans  and 
deposits.  Its  transactions  were  on  a  grand  scale ;  many  of  the 
European  States,  and  Spain  in  particular,  were  its  debtors,  and 
its  income  exceeded  ten  millions  of  French  livres.  The  admin- 
istration of  its  concerns  was  committed  to  eight  directors,  and 
it  had  jurisdiction  over  its  own  officers.  The  product  of  the 
imposts,  pledged  by  the  State  to  the  Bank,  for  the  payment  of 
its  loan  and  interest,  when  inadequate,  was  constantly  increased. 

At  the  time  of  its  failure,  its  rents  amounting  to  3,400,000 
Genoese  Lire,  or  about  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars,  the 
property  of  its  creditors  was  transferred  to  the  account  books  of 
France. 

The  Bank  had  all  the  nature  and  powers  of  the  English  East 
India  Company,  being  both  a  financial  and  trading  corporation. 
Its  colonial  administration  and  power  extended  to  the  Crimea, 
Asia  Minor,  and  over  the  Island  of  Corsica. 

This  great  engine  of  the  State,  was  managed  with  power 
and  integrity;  its  bills  continued  current  throughout  Europe, 
until  French  Vandalism  overran  the  territory  of  the  Republic 
and  seized  on  Corsica;  until  the  year  1750,  when  the  Bank 
failed ;  the  artery  of  life  to  Genoa  ceased  to  furnish  aliment 
when  the  other  powers  of  the  venerable  Republic  were  de- 
stroyed. 

The  interest  of  the  subject  is  my  excuse  for  the  length  of  this 
paper,  whose  conclusion  I  now  form  by  copies  of  the  three 
letters  of  Columbus,  and  of  the  letter  of  the  Magistrate  of  St. 
George  to  the  Admiral. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  1 

"To  THE  AMBASSADOR  SIGNOR  NICOLO  ODERIGO." 
"  Sir  : 

"It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  solicitude  which 
your  departure  has  caused  among  us.  I  gave  the  book  of  my 
Privileges  to  Signor  Frco.  di  Rivarolo,  in  order  that  he  might 
forward  it  to  you,  along  with  a  copy  of  the  missive  letters.  I 
beg  of  you  as  a  particular  favor,  to  write  to  Don  Diego,  to  ac- 
knowledge their  receipt,  and  to  mention  where  they  are  depo- 
sited. Another  copy  shall  be  furnished  and  sent  to  you,  in  the 
same  manner,  and  by  the  said  Sig.  Franco.  You  will  find 
another  letter  in  it,  in  which  their  highnesses  have  promised  to 
give  me  all  that  belongs  to  me,  and  to  put  Don  Diego  in  posses- 
sion of  it,  as  you  will  see.  I  am  writing  to  Signor  Gian  Luigi, 
and  to  the  Signora  Caterina,  and  the  letter  will  accompany  this. 
I  shall  depart,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  with  the  first 
favorable  weather,  with  a  considerable  equipment.  If  Girolamo 
di  Santo  Stephano  comes,  he  must  wait  forme,  and  not  entangle 
himself  with  any  one,  for  they  will  get  from  him  whatever  they 
can,  and  then  leave  him  in  the  lurch.  Let  him  come  here,  and 
he  will  be  received  t»y  the  king  and  queen  until  I  arrive. 
"  May  our  Lord  have  you  in  his  holy  keeping. 
"March  21,  1502,  in  Seville. 

"At  your  commands, 

S. 

S.  A.  S 
X.  M.  Y. 
X/,0  FERENS."* 

*  It  may  explain  this  peculiar  signature,  which  is  so  indicative  of  the  fashion  of 
his  age,  to  add,  what  I  helieve  comes  originally  from  his  son  Ferdinand's  Life  of 
the  Admiral ;  that  Columbus,  always,  when  trying  his  pen,  before  writing,  wrote 
these  words : 

"  Jesu  cum  Maria, 

Sit  nobis  in  via." 


15 


No.  2. 

"  To  THE  MOST  LEARNED  DOCTOR  NlCOLO  ODERIGO. 

"  Learned  Sir: 

"  When  I  set  off  upon  the  voyage  from 

which  I  have  just  returned,  I  spoke  to  you  fully :  I  have  no 
doubt  you  retained  a  complete  recollection  of  every  thing.  I 
expected  upon  my  arrival  to  have  found  here  letters,  and  possi- 
bly a  confidential  person  from  you.  At  that  time  I  likewise  gave 
to  Francesco  di  Rivarolo,  a  book  of  copies  of  my  letters,  and 
another  of  my  Privileges,  in  a  bag  of  colored  Spanish  leather, 
with  a  silver  lock,  and  two  letters  for  the  Bank  of  St.  George,  to 
which  I  assigned  the  tenth  of  my  revenues,  in  diminution  of  the 
duties  upon  corn  and  other  provisions.  No  acknowledgment  of 
all  this  has  reached  me.  Sig.  Francesco  tells  me  that  all  ar- 
rived there  in  safety.  If  so,  it  was  uncourteous  hi  those  gentle- 
men of  St.  George  not  to  have  favored  me  with  an  answer,  nor 
have  they  thereby  improved  their  affairs ;  which  gives  me  cause 
to  say,  that  whoever  serves  the  public,  serves  nobody.  I  gave 
another  book  of  my  Privileges,  like  the  above,  in  Cadiz,  to 
Franco  Cattaneo,  the  bearer  of  this,  in  order  that  he  might  like- 
wise forward  it  to  you  ;  and  that  both  of  them  might  be  placed 
in  security  wherever  you  thought  proper.  Just  before  my  de- 
parture, I  received  a  letter  from  the  king  and  queen,  my  lords ; 
a  copy  of  which  you  will  find  there.  You  will  see  that  it  came 
very  opportunely ;  nevertheless,  Don  Diego  was  not  put  in  pos- 
session, as  had  been  there  promised. 

"  While  I  was  hi  the  Indies,  I  wrote  to  their  highnesses  an 
account  of  my  voyage,  by  three  or  four  opportunities ;  one  of 
my  letters  having  come  back  to  my  hands,  I  send  it  to  you  in- 
closed in  this,  with  the  supplement  of  my  voyage  in  another 
letter,  in  order  that  you  may  give  it  to  Signer  Gian  Luigi,  with 
the  other  of  advice  ;  to  whom  1  write  that  you  will  be  the  reader 
and  interpreter  of  it.  I  would  wish  to  have  ostensible  letters, 
speaking  cautiously  of  the  matter  in  which  we  are  engaged.  I 
arrived  here  very  unwell,  just  before  the  queen,  my  mistress, 
died,  (who  is  now  with  God,)  without  my  seeing  her.  Till  now 


16 

I  cannot  say  how  my  affairs  will  finish.  I  believe  her  highness 
has  provided  well  for  them  in  her  last  will ;  and  the  king,  my 
master,  is  very  well  disposed.  Franco  Cattaneo  will  explain 
the  rest  more  minutely  to  you. 

"  May  our  Lord  preserve  you  in  his  care. 

Seville,  27th  December,  1504. 

S. 
"The  Admiral  of  the  Ocean,  Viceroy,  S.  A.  S. 

and  Governor  General  of  the  Indies,  &c."         X.  M.  Y. 

X,.  FERENS. 

No.  3. 

Copy  of  a  Letter  written  by  the  magistrate  of  St.  George* s  to 

Columbus. 
"111.  Vir,  et  clarissime,  amantissimeque 

Concivis,  et  Domine  memorandisseme. 

"The  distinguished  Juris  Consult,  Messer  Nicolo  di  Oderigo, 
on  his  return  from  the  embassy  to  which  he  was  appointed  from 
our  illustrious  Republic,  to  the  most  excellent  and  glorious 
monarch,  (of  Spain,)  delivered  me  a  letter  from  your  Excel- 
lency, which  gave  me  singular  pleasure,  from  the  affectionate 
regard,  so  conformable  to  your  disposition,  which  your  Excel- 
lency therein  exhibited  towards  your  native  country,  to  which 
you  have  shown  most  singular  love  and  charity,  in  wishing  it 
to  be  partakers  of  the  favors  which  it  has  pleased  Divine 
Providence  to  bestow  upon  your  Excellency.  Your  aforesaid 
country  and  people  must  feel  what  singular  profit  and  advan- 
tages they  will  derive  from  the  orders  you  have  given  to  Don 
Diego,  your  son,  that  the  tenth  of  your  annual  revenues  should 
be  paid  to  this  city,  in  diminution  of  the  duties  on  corn,  wine 
and  other  provisions.  Nothing  could  be  more  charitable,  nor 
more  memorable  than  this,  or  will  tend  more  to  the  remem- 
brance of  your  glory,  which,  in  other  respects,  is  as  great  and 
extraordinary,  as  according  to  history,  any  man  in  the  world 
has  ever  acquired,  having  by  your  own  perseverance,  energy  and 
prudence  discovered  so  large  a  portion  of  this  earth  and  globe  of 


17 

the  lower  world,  which  for  so  many  centuries  past  had  remained 
unknown  to  the  people  of  that  which  we  inhabit.  But  this  great 
exercise  of  your  extraordinary  glory,  is  in  truth  much  more 
memorable  and  complete,  as  proceeding  from  the  humanity  and 
benignity  which  it  proves  you  possess  towards  the  country  of 
your  birth,  on  which  account  we  praise,  as  it  deserves,  your 
disposition,  and  pray  to  God  to  preserve  you  many  years.  We 
shall  always  bear  that  affection  towards  your  most  illustrious  son, 
Don  Diego,  which  he  is  entitled  to,  as  being  your  son,  and  from 
the  splendor  and  glory  of  your  actions  of  which  this  our  common 
country  is  proud  of  having  its  part.  To  Don  Diego  we  have 
expressed  by  letter,  as  we  now  do  to  your  Excellency,  our 
readiness  to  do  everything  in  our  power  for  the  honor  and 
advantage  of  your  illustrious  family.  The  above  mentioned 
Messer  Nicolo  has  related  to  us  many  things  respecting  your 
Favors  and  Privileges,  of  which  he  has  brought  copies  here, 
with  which  we  were  much  gratified,  and  return  you  everlasting 
thanks  for  those  of  which  you  had  made  us  partakers. 
"From  Genoa,  the  8th  of  December,  MDII." 
Here  ends  the  publication  by  the  Decurions  of  Genoa,  in 
1823.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  in  the  original  Ital- 
ian, and  translation  obtained  by  myself  from  the  same  deposi- 
tory, in  Genoa,  January  19,  1848. 


No.  4. 

ALL!    MOLTO    NOBILI    SlGNORI 

DEL    MOLTO    MAGNIFICO    UFFICIO 

DI  S.  GIORGIO 

A  GENOVA. 

Jil  di  dentro 

Molto  nobili  Signori: 

Benche  il  corpo  cammini  qua,  il  cuore  sta  li  da  continue. 

Nostro  Signore  mi  'ha  fatto  la  maggior,  che  dopo  David  abbia 

fatto  a  nessuno.     Le  cose  della  mia  impresa,  gid  risplend&no,  e 

piu  risplenderebbero,  se  la  oscurita"  del  Governo  non  le  coprisse. 

3 


18 

10  torno  alle  Indie,  in  nome  della  Santissima  Trinita,  per  tor- 
nare  subito ;  e  perche,  Io  son  mortale,  lascio,  a  D.  Diego,  mio 
figlio,  che  di  tutta  la  rendita,  vi  corresponda  corti,  per  il  decimo 
del  totale,  di  essa,  ogni  anno,  per  sempre,  in  sconto,  del   pro- 
dotto,   del    grano,   e  vino,    edaltre    vettovaglie   commestibile. 
Se  questo  decimo  sard  molto,  ricevetelo,  e  se  no,  ricevete  la 
volonta  che  io   tengo.     Vi  prego,  per   grazia,  che   tengniate 
riccomandato  questo  mio  figlio.      Messer  Nicolo  Oderigo   sa 
dei  fatti  miei  piu  che  io  stesso,  e  lui  ho  mandato  la  copia  dei 
miei  privilegii,  e  carte  ;  perche  li  pongo  in  buona  guardia,  avrei 
piacere,  che  li  vedreste. 

11  Re  e  la  Regina,  miei  Signori,  mi  vogliono  onora  piti  che 
mai.     La  San.  Trin.  guardi  le  vostre  nobili  persone,  e  accresca 
in  molto  magnifico  uffizio. 

Fatto  in  Seviglia  le  2  di  Aprile  1502. 

L'Ammiraglio  Maggure  del  Mare  Oceano,  e  Vice  Re,  e 
Governatore  Generale  delle  Isole,  e  della  Terra  Ferma,  del 
Asia,  e  delle  Indie,  del  Re,  e  della  Regina,  miei  Signori,  e  suo 
Capitano  Generale  del  Mare,  e  del  suo  Consiglio. 

S. 

S.  A.  S. 
X.  M.  Y. 
X/i.  FERENS. 
Supplex. 

Servus.  Altissimi  Salvatoris. 
Xristi.  Mariffi.  Josephi. 
Christo  Ferens. 

TRANSLATION. 

To  THE  MOST  NOBLE  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  ILLUSTRIOUS  BANK 

or  ST.  GEORGE  AT  GENOA. 
To  the  within 

Most  noble  Gentlemen : 

Although  the  body  travels  hither,  the  heart  remains  with  you 
for  ever.  Our  Lord  hath  shown  me  greater  grace  than  after 
David  hath  he  shown  to  any  one.  The  affairs  of  my  enterprise 


19 

are  now  resplendent,  and  will  be  more  so,  if  the  darkness  of 
the  government  shall  not  overwhelm  them. 

I  go  again  to  the  Indies,  in  the  name  of  the  Most  Holy 
Trinity,  to  return  speedily :  and  forasmuch  as  I  am  mortal,  I 
leave  in  charge  to  Don  Diego  my  son,  that  annually,  for  ever, 
he  shall  account  to  you  for  the  one-tenth  of  all  my  Income,  in 
order  to  reduce  the  taxes  on  corn,  wine  and  other  provisions. 
If  this  Tenth  shall  be  considerable,  accept  it ;  and  if  not,  ac- 
cept the  regard  I  entertain  for  you.  I  solicit  your  gracious 
consideration  for  my  son.  Signer  Nicolo  Oderigo,  knowing  of 
my  affairs  more  than  I  do  myself,  I  have  sent  him  the  copy  of 
my  Privileges  and  Charters ;  and  as  I  thus  place  them  in  good 
guardianship,  have  the  kindness  to  examine,  when  you  see 
them. 

The  King  and  Queen,  my  Lords,  treat  me  with  more  favor 
daily  than  ever.  May  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  safely  keep  your 
noble  persons,  and  magnify  you  in  your  illustrious  office. 

Done  at  Seville,  the  2d  of  April,  1502. 

The  High  admiral  of  the  Oceanic  Sea,  and  Vice  Roy  and 
Governor  General  of  the  Islands,  and  of  the  Terra  Ferma,  of 
Asia,  and  of  the  Indies,  of  the  King  and  Queen,  my  Lords, 
and  their  Captain  General  of  the  Sea,  and  of  their  Council. 

S. 

S.  A.  S. 
X.  M.  Y. 
Xp*  FERENS. 

EXPLANATION    OF    THIS    SIGNATURE. 

Supplex. 

Servus.  Altissimi  Salvatoris. 

Xristi.  Mariae.  Josephi. 

Christo  Ferens. 

The  Suppliant 

Servant  of  the  Most  High  Saviour 

Christ,  of  Mary,  of  Joseph 

Christo  Ferens  or 

Christopher. 


MARTIN  BEHAIM  AND  HIS   GLOBE, 
AT    NUREMBERGH. 


I  TRUST  that  I  may  be  allowed  in  connection  with  the 
Memorials  of  Columbus,  to  add  a  brief  detail  and  description  of 
a  memento  of  his  age,  at  Nurembergh  in  Bavaria;  which  during 
my  stay  at  that  interesting  city,  by  the  courtesy  of  resident 
friends,  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  September,  1847,  it  was  my 
good  fortune  to  visit  and  inspect.  I  allude  to  the  celebrated 
Terrestrial  Globe  there,  made  by  Martin  Behaim,  a  native  of 
that  ancient  imperial  city;  a  most  eminent  navigator  and  dis- 
coverer, constructed  by  him  in  August,  1492,  and  left  with  his 
family  there,  with  whose  descendants  in  their  ancient  mansion, 
it  still  remains. 

Apart  from  its  originality  and  antiquity,  it  has  attained  a 
greater  interest;  having  through  misrepresentation,  been  made 
the  prominent  material  for  controversial  detraction  of  the  fame 
of  Columbus.  In  this  brief  and  unassuming  paper,  I  purpose 
succinctly  to  detail  the  information  afforded  by  others,  of  the 
personal  history  of  the  maker  of  this  globe,  Martin  Behaim ; 
and  a  few  extracts  from  the  controversial  authors,  so  far  as  may 
be  useful,  in  showing  the  importance  of  concluding  with  a  sim- 
ple and  truthful  description  of  this  globe  by  an  eye  witness. 

This  spirit  of  detraction  survived  in  1786,  when  in  April, 
M.  Otto,  a  French  gentleman,  then  residing  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  addressed  to  Dr.  Franklin  his  able  and  ingenious 
"Memoir  on  the  Discovery  of  America,"  in  which  the  claims 
of  Behaim  to  priority  of  discovery  are  presented  with  as  much 
force  as  they  are  susceptible  of.  In  my  extracts  from  the 
memoir,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  statements  of  M.  Otto,  in 


21 

his  loose  description  of  the  globe,  are  contrary  to  the  fact,  and 
show  that  he,  like  other  writers  on  this  subject,  has  failed  to 
examine  the  globe  itself,  although  it  is  one  of  his  chief  argu- 
ments. But  all  mementos  of  a  man  of  science  and  practical 
navigator,  eminent  for  his  own  discoveries,  and  for  the  intimate 
friendship  of  Columbus,  kindred  in  spirit  and  pursuit,  cannot 
fail,  however  presented,  to  secure  an  abiding  interest. 

His  name  is  variously  given,  Behain,  Behem,  Boehm,  Behen 
and  Behenira,  but  the  name  now  of  the  family  at  Nurembergh  is 
written  "Behaim." 

Martin  Behaim  was  born  at  Nurembergh,  in  Bavaria,  about 
A.  D.  1430,  and  died  at  Lisbon,  A.  D.  1506,  the  same  year  as 
his  great  cotemporary  Columbus.  His  ancestors  were  of  an 
ancient  and  honorable  family  of  Nurembergh.  His  genius  and 
education  were  early  inclined  to  diligent  study  of  the  master 
subject  of  that  age,  geography,  which,  after  the  Crusades,  had 
opened  the  treasures  of  the  east  to  the  enterprise  of  awakening 
Europe,  for  which  oriental  commerce,  his  own  native  Nurem- 
bergh, was,  until  the  passage  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  1497, 
one  of  the  chief  marts,  became  a  subject  of  increased  attraction, 
by  the  marvellous  histories  of  Marco  Polo,  Sir  John  Mandeville 
and  other  travellers  of  the  preceding  age.  About  the  year 
1481,  he  is  supposed  to  have  entered  the  service  of  King 
Alphonso  V.  of  Portugal;  no  doubt  attracted  thither  by  the 
fame  of  the  then  late  Prince  Henry's  munificent  patronage,  and 
the  discoveries  of  the  Portuguese,  who  had  in  1471,  crossed  the 
Equator  in  their  voyages  of  discovery  on  the  Coast  of  Africa. 
Appointed  by  John  II.  the  successor  of  Alphonso,  to  the 
Council  or  Department  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Art  of  Navi- 
gation, he  is,  by  some  authors,  alleged  then  to  have  invented  or 
at  least  to  have  introduced  the  Astrolabe,  the  forerunner  of  the 
Sextant,  into  nautical  use.  Without  discussing  his  title  to  the 
discovery  of  the  Island  of  Fayal  in  1460,  in  the  service  of 
Isabella,  Regent  of  Burgundy  and  Flanders,  from  whom  he  is 
said  to  have  obtained  a  grant  of  the  Island,  a  matter  of  some 
question ;  it  is  more  material  to  state  that  as  Cosmographer  for 
the  King,  in  1484,  he  accompanied  Diego  Cano,  on  his  voyage, 


22 

which  discovered  the  Western  Coast  of  Africa,  as  far  as  the 
Coast  of  Congo,  and  for  his  eminent  service  was,  on  his  return 
in  1485,  knighted  by  the  King  John  II.;  the  ruling  policy  of 
whose  reign  was  to  extend  the  area  of  discovery,  and  by  her 
newly  acquired  colonies,  to  elevate  Portugal  to  a  great  commer- 
cial power,  and  fitting  rival  to  Genoa  and  Venice.  During  this 
voyage,  Behaim  is  alleged  by  several  authorities  to  have  ex- 
tended his  course  to  the  great  South  Western  Sea,  discovered 
and  followed  the  Coast  of  Brazil,  Patagonia  and  the  Straits 
through  which  Magellan,  whose  name  it  bears,  in  1519,  passed 
to  the  Pacific,  in  his  memorable  voyage,  the  first  circumnaviga- 
tion of  the  Globe. 

As  a  curious  subject,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  state  such 
evidence  as  is  urged  ;  prefacing  that  his  own  Globe  is  the  best 
refutation  of  a  claim,  which  reaches  us  mainly  from  German 
Authors,  and  was  unheard  of  in  Portugal,  where  Behaim  long 
lived,  and  was  so  widely  known  and  honored;  and  is  therefore 
only  capable  of  affording  entertainment  to  the  student  of  his  age. 
The  chroniclers  of  Niirembergh,  anxious  to  add  new  laurels 
to  their  already  distinguished  fellow  burgher,  speak  from  the 
archives  of  that  ancient  city,  that  "Martin  Behem,  traversing 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  for  several  years,  examined  the  American 
Islands,  and  discovered  the   Strait,  which  bears  the  name  of 
Magellan,  before   either   Christopher   Columbus,  or  Magellan 
sailed  those  seas,  and  mathematically  delineated  on  a  geographi- 
cal chart  for  the  King  of  Lusitania,  the  situation  of  the  Coast 
around  every  part  of  that  famous  and  renowned  Strait."     Ap- 
parently this  record  must  have  been  written  after  the  year  1519; 
the  epoch  of  Magellan's  voyage.    It  is  asserted,  that  the  archives 
of  Niirembergh  contain  letters  from  Behaim,  dated  in   1486, 
confirming  this  record ;  but  it  is  at  least  singular  that  they  have 
never  yet  seen  the  light.     To  show  that  this  story  loses  nothing 
in  its  German  progress  but 

"  Vires  acquirit  eundo," 

allow  me  to  add  a  few  more  of  the  alleged  authorities.     Hart- 
man  Schedel,  a  chronicler  of  Niirembergh,  writing  about  the 


time  of  Behaim,  after  describing  the  outfit  of  the  celebrated  ex- 
pedition in  1484,  by  John  II.,  under  Behaim  and  Diego  Cano, 
for  discovery  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  already  mentioned, 
says  of  Behaim,  that  he  "was  a  man  very  well  acquainted  with 
the  situation  of  the  globe ;  blessed  with  a  constitution  able  to 
bear  the  fatigues  of  the  sea,  and  who  by  actual  experiments  and 
long  sailing,  had  made  himself  perfect  master  of  the  longitudes 
and  latitudes  of  Ptolemy  in  the  West.  These  two,"  (Behaim 
and  Cano,)  "by  the  bounty  of  heaven,  coasting  along  the  South- 
ern Ocean,  and  having  crossed  the  Equator,  got  into  the  other 
hemisphere ;  where,  facing  to  the  Eastward,  their  shadows  pro- 
jected towards  the  South,  and  right  hand.  Thus  by  their  indus- 
try, they  may  be  said  to  have  opened  to  us  another  world, 
hitherto  unknown,  and  for  many  years  attempted  by  none  but 
the  Genoese,  and  by  them  in  vain." 

This  assertion  of  the  chronicler,  who  might  with  his  learned 
tomes  well  sleep  in  his  native  dust;  has,  we  are  told,  been 
quoted  and  enlarged  beyond  his  limits,  which  must  be  confessed 
are  somewhat  vague,  by  two  famous  men  of  their  time :  Eneas 
Sylvius,  afterwards  Pope  Pius  II.,  and  Cellarius,  but  neither 
show  any  wish  to  verify  their  oracles.  With  them,  the  case  on 
authorities,  set  up  to  mantain  Behaim's  priority  of  discovery  of 
America,  closes.  Is  it  not  a  little  singular,  that  such  a  claim 
should  have  survived  till  the  close  of  the  last  century? 

Another  theory,  the  natural  sequent  of  the  former,  and  gathered 
about  the  memory  of  Behaim,  cobweb-like,  will,  by  your  per- 
mission, detain  us  a  moment,  before  passing  to  the  conclusion 
of  the  whole  matter, — the  description  of  Behaim's  Terrestrial 
Globe  in  Nurembergh.  A  once  celebrated  astronomer,  Riccioli, 
an  Italian,  who  surely  might  be  presumed  to  have  possessed 
better  means  of  knowledge,  is  brought  into  the  field  to  say  that 
"Christopher  Columbus  never  thought  of  an  expedition  to  the 
West  Indies  until  some  time  before,  while  in  the  Island  of  Ma- 
deira, where  amusing  himself  in  forming  and  delineating  geo- 
graphical charts,  he  obtained  information  from  Martin  Boehm, 
or  as  the  Spaniards  say,  from  Alphonsus  Sanchez  de  Huelva," 
(the  father-in-law  of  Behaim,)  "  a  pilot,  who  by  mere  chance 


24 

had  fallen  in  with  the  island  afterward  called  Dominica,"  and 
"let  Boehm  and  Columbus  have  each  their  praise,  they  were 
both  excellent  navigators ;  but  Columbus  would  never  have 
thought  of  his  expedition  to  America  had  not  Boehm  gone  there 
before  him.  His  name  is  not  so  much  celebrated  as  that  of 
Columbus,  Americus  or  Magellan,  although  he  is  superior  to 
them  all." 

It  is  also  frequently  asserted,  with  indeed  some  show  of  pro- 
bability, that  Magellan  made  great  use  of  the  practical  and  sci- 
entific knowledge  and  charts  of  Behaim :  some  say,  that  when 
Magellan,  in  1519,  in  the  audience  chamber  of  Emanuel,  king 
of  Portugal,  proposed  his  grand  idea  of  voyaging  westerly  to 
the  Indies  of  the  east,  by  which  in  his  memorable  voyage  he  so 
signally  accomplished  the  hopes  of  Columbus  and  his  age,  he 
there  saw  a  chart  of  the  coasts  of  America,  drawn  by  Behaim, 
which  at  once  made  plain  his  path  before  him;  and  others  say 
that  Magellan  carried  either  these  charts,  or  this  very  terrestrial 
globe  with  him  as  his  companion.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  our 
sequel  will  show  that  this  globe  would  not  have  been  of  much 
service  to  Magellan. 

In  1486,  Martin  Behaim  married,  at  the  island  of  Fayal,  the 
daughter  of  Alphonsus  Sanchez  de  Huelva,  (the  name  is  some- 
times given  as  Job  de  Huerta)  of  that  island,  likewise  eminent 
as  an  experienced  navigator.  Christopher  Columbus  had  pre- 
viously married  the  daughter  of  Bartholomew  Palestrello,  of  the 
island  of  Madeira,  where  Columbus  spent  much  time  in  study 
and  preparation  of  charts ;  and  all  authorities  agree  that  from  the 
year  1486  till  the  year  1489,  these  two  eminent  men,  Columbus 
and  Behaim,  of  kindred  tastes  and  pursuits,  were  in  intimate  in- 
tercourse and  friendship ;  but  no  evidence  other  than  the  above 
quoted  assertions  of  chroniclers  exists,  of  what  aid  if  any,  that 
Martin  Behaim  during  this  period  rendered  to  the  theory  of 
Columbus. 

In  1491  Behaim  returned  home  to  Niirembergh;  and  there,  at 
the  request  of  the  principal  magistrates  of  the  city,  he  com- 
menced, and  in  August,  1492,  completed  his  celebrated  terres- 
trial globe. 


25 

In  1493  he  returned  to  Portugal  and  Fayal,  and  after  one 
short  and  adventurous  voyage,  died  in  Lisbon,  in  1506.  I  will 
close  my  extracts  with  but  two  sentences  from  the  memoir  of  M. 
Otto.  Speaking  of  his  having  made  his  terrestrial  globe,  he  says : 
"  The  track  of  his  discoveries  may  there  be  seen  under  the  name 
of  'Western  Lands,'  and  from  their  situation  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  they  are  the  present  coasts  of  Brazil,  and  the  envi- 
rons of  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  This  globe  was  made  in  the 
same  year,  that  Columbus  set  out  on  his  expedition,  from  whence 
it  is  not  possible  that  Behaim  could  have  profited  by  the  works 
of  this  navigator,  who  besides  went  a  much  more  northerly 
course." 

This  prefatory  summary  of  his  life,  and  the  theories  that  have 
been  attached  to  his  fame,  will  find  its  best  apology  for  a  length 
which  may  seem  tedious,  in  the  interest  which  it  may  throw 
about  the  final  and  chief  monument  of  his  life, — his  terrestrial 
globe.  No  other  person  has,  as  far  as  I  am  informed,  given  in 
print  a  description  of  this  globe  :  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted 
that  Mr.  Irving  did  not  close  hjs  digest  of  the  chief  events  in  the 
life  eg  "  Martin  Behem,"  in  the  Appendix  to  the  3d  volume  of 
his  history  of  Columbus,  by  something  more  than  a  mere  allu- 
sion, arising  probably  from  his  lack  of  opportunity  of  inspection.* 
It  may  well  happen  that  the  Augsburg  rail  road  may  bring 
many  a  traveller  to  quiet  Nurembergh,  whose  appreciation  would 
be  highly  gratified  by  a  sight  of  the  globe ;  but  it  is  not  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  lions  of  the  town,  which  the  valet  is  prepared  to 
show  the  traveller ;  who,  unless  favored  by  personal  friends  resi- 
dent there,  may  very  likely  depart  from  Nurembergh,  without 
even  the  knowledge  of  its  existence  and  preservation. 

In  the  New  York  Literary  World  for  the  twenty-second  day  of 
January,  1848, 1  find  an  article  entitled  "Nurembergh;"  whose 
preparation,  beguiled  some  weary  hours  of  my  quarantine  at 
Malta,  in  the  previous  November;  containing  a  sketch  of  the  pre- 
sent state  and  appearance  of  that  city,  and  among  other  matters 
a  description  of  Behaim's  terrestrial  globe. 

*  I  am  in  this  favored  by  the  confirmation  of  Mr.  Irving  himself,  that  he  had 
never  visited  Nurembergh,  or  seen  this  globe. 
4 


26 

I  ask  your  permission,  to  extract  therefrom  such  brief  state- 
ment of  facts  as  may  be.  material  to  our  present  purpose. 

"There  is  one  other  object  of  interest  which  is  worth  notice, 
before  bidding  adieu  to  Niirembergh.  The  family  of  Behaim 
here,  possess  a  globe  made  by  their  ancestor,  Martin  Behaim, 
in  the  year  1492,  while  Columbus  was  yet  at  sea.  It  is  in  the 
mansion  adjoining  the  Lindauer  gallery.  It  is  said  to  be  the 
earliest  in  existence  ;  and  tradition  says  that  its  artist  was  an 
early  patron,  by  his  wealth  and  influence  of  the  enterprise  of  Co- 
lumbus. It  is  in  perfect  preservation,  although  dingy  enough 
by  the  lapse  of  centuries.  About  two  feet  in  diameter,  it  is 
suspended  in  a  brass  circle  marked  with  the  courses  of  the 
winds,  with  the  names,  and  after  the  notions  of  classical  geo- 
graphers. The  Equinoctial  and  Zodiac  are  defined,  but  there 
is  an  utter  absence  of  latitude  and  longitude.  America,  North 
or  South,  is  not  there;  the  ocean  flows  over  that  side  of  the 
earth  which  afterwards  belonged  to  the  Western  World ;  and 
the  fancy  of  the  artist  has  depicted  some  whales  spouting  in  the 
locality  of  the  United  States;  and  some  Spanish  Caravals  are 
sailing  in  unknown  directions  over  Mexico.  A  few  mermaids 
are  combing  their  locks  somewhere  near  modern  Greenland,  and 
in  old  German,  he  has  inscribed  underneath,  the  intelligence 
that  many  of  these  peculiar  animals  are  to  be  met  with  there- 
abouts. The  configuration  of  Europe  is  certainly  singular ;  a 
certain  wavy  line  answers  for  all  coasts  ;  England  is  about  the 
size  of  Malta;  Germany  of  modern  Russia;  Spain  about  double 
the  size  of  France ;  the  Mediterranean  dwindles  to  a  small  lake; 
a  vast  region  protrudes  into  the  sea  beyond  the  Indies,  and  is 
described  as  the  domain  of  the  famous  Kaiser  Prester  John,  in 
the  words,  '  hier  wohnt  der  sehr  beruhmter  •  Kaiser  Prester 
Johan.'  The  Antilles  are  small  obscure  islands,  near  the  west 
coast  of  Africa.  The  Red  Sea  is  a  huge  ocean,  colored  red; 
and  Palestine  is  of  the  size  of  modern  Turkey.  The  geographer 
evidently  proportions  the  countries  according  to  their  relative 
importance.  The  whole  surface  is  studded  with  droll  figures, 
as  specimens  of  the  inhabitants,  productions  and  distinctive  fea- 
tures of  the  countries,  with  continual  inscriptions  in  German,  of 


27 

fheir  names,  character,  discovery,  etc. ;  forming  a  diligent  ab- 
stract of  the  works  of  the  travellers  and  geographers  whose 
names  are  quoted  as  authorities,  and  thus  giving  a  very  com- 
plete idea  and  resume  of  the  state  of  geographical  knowledge  of 
the  time. 

"This  rarity,  although  amusing  enough  to  us,  is  evidently 
the  work  of  a  man  of  much  reading;  and  it  certainly  has  an 
additional  interest  as  showing  the  state  of  geographical  know- 
ledge existing  in  Europe  at  that  period,  when  the  great  dis- 
coverer of  a  Western  World  had  at  last  set  forth  on  the  voyage 
of  achievement  of  the  long  settled  purposes  and  convictions  of 
his  mind.  Looking  at  this  relic,  one  readily  sees  what  vast 
obstacles  were  in  his  path ;  the  causes  of  the  deeply  settled  un- 
belief which  met  him  on  every  appeal  for  assistance  to  his 
project,  and  how  strangely  it  must  have  sounded  to  their  ears, 
when  he  reasoned  of  the  actual  existence  of  a  mighty  continent 
in  that  waste  of  waters,  which  their  fancy  peopled  with  mer- 
maids and  other  denizens  of  the  deep.  The  Globe  bears  the 
autograph  of  the  maker,  and  the  date  of  its  construction  or 
completion,  August,  1492,  and  is  of  course  above  all  price  to 
the  family  who  still  possess  it.  A  few  years  since  the  French 
Academy  of  Sciences,  caused  a  beautiful  fac-simile  in  papier 
mache  to  be  made  of  it,  and  one  of  the  copies  was  presented  to 
the  family.  The  two  globes  stand  together,  and  are  open  to 
examination  of  any  one  on  application  to  the  family." 

In  conclusion,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  adding  a  few  words — 
a  mere  historic  glimpse  of  Behaim's  native  city — Niirembergh ; 
being  an  extract  from  the  same  review  article,  in  a  notice  of 
the  antiquity  of  families  there. 

The  princes  of  Nurembergh  were  a  burgher  aristocracy  in 
their  origin  ;  wealthy  merchants,  who  either  for  a  timely  loan, 
or  for  some  equally  important  ministry  to  the  necessities  of  the 
great  lord  or  neighboring  kings,  were  raised  to  the  rank  of  the 
noblesse,  and  the  chronicles  of  the  city  are  filled  with  records  of 
numerous  charters  of  freedoms  and  privileges  of  commerce 
granted  to  the  city  itself  on  similar  considerations.  The  oldest 
of  such  charters  still  existing  in  the  city  archives,  dated  in 


28 

twelve  hundred  and  nineteen,*  the  gift  or  concession  of  the 
Emperor  Frederick  II.,  creates  it  a  free  city  of  the  Empire, 
exempting  it  from  taxes  or  service  to  other  feudal  lords,  pro- 
viding imperial  courts  of  justice,  and  endowing  it  with  rights  of 
markets,  fairs,  coinage  and  many  other  commercial  privileges. 
With  this  and  many  other  similar  and  subsequent  charters,  the 
city  grew  rich  and  prosperous,  its  artisans  were  famous,  its 
markets  crowded  with  their  own  fabrics,  and  with  the  luxuries 
of  the  East;  for  according  to  its  chronicles,  the  North  and  West 
of  Europe  were  supplied  by  the  merchant  princes  of  Niirem- 
bergh.  Instead  of  being  as  now  a  comparatively  inferior  city 
of  some  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  its  archives  tell  us  of  the 
days  when  a  great  portion  of  the  commerce  of  Northern  Europe 
and  the  Indian  trade  were  in  its  hands ;  when  there  were  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  busy  citizens  here,  when  the  mer- 
chants of  Northern  and  Central  Europe  came  in  great  numbers 
to  its  fairs  and  markets,  and  its  burgher  noblesse  were  the 
friends  and  equals  of  princes.  All  this  has  long  since  changed. 
The  discovery  of  the  passage  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
naturally  diverted  a  large  portion  of  its  commerce,  and  it  fell 
into  a  decline  from  which  it  has  not  yet  fully  recovered.  So 
when  the  stranger  now  walks  its  quiet  streets,  he  must  in  a 
great  degree,  content  himself  with  the  vestiges  of  its  past  great- 
ness and  its  departed  commercial  pre-eminence,  though  he  must 
feel  a  certain  sadness  in  seeing  the  immortal  arts  of  Diirer, 
Visscher  and  Kraft,  degenerated  in  the  hands  of  their  modern 
successors,  to  the  manufacture  of  German  toys,  and  to  find  the 
once  northern  Venice  now-a-days  famous  mainly  for  bijouterie. 

•This  date  is  but  fifteen  years  after  the  capture,  plunder  and  occupation  of 
Constantinople,  by  the  Fourth  Crusade.  Its  diadem  was  given  to  Baldwin, 
Count  of  Flanders,  Henry  II.,  and  their  successors,  till  A.  D.  1260,  when  the 
Greek  Empire  was  for  a  brief  period  restored.  The  Fourth  Crusade  as  is  well 
known,  opened  the  wealth  of  the  East  to  Europe,  and  its  treasures  we  are  told, 
began  even  then  to  ascend  the  Danube ;  whose  waters  have  within  the  last  thirty 
years,  by  the  enterprise  of  the  Hungarian  Count  Sczecheny,  again  become  the 
pathway  of  oriental  commerce,  with  Vienna  and  Western  Europe. 


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ID-D'l 

MA 


Form  L9-2r,,;(-9,'47(A5G18)444 


> 

5 


